Lettuce leaf costs Carrefour €20,000

Store giant’s failure to clean fruit and veg area costs it €20,000 after OAP breaks leg after slipping on lettuce leaf

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SUPERMARKET giant Carrefour has been ordered to pay a 76-year-old customer €20,000 in damages after she slipped on a lettuce leaf and broke her leg.

The verdict, at the Tribunal Correctionnel in Montpellier, is a first in France and could set a legal precedent.

It comes after a previous case where a customer of fast-food restaurant Quick lost his action against the company when she slipped on a chip.

The court held that Carrefour had been responsible for the woman’s fall in its shop at Saint-Jean-de-Vedas (Hérault), on December 31, 2006, as the fruit and vegetable sales was very slippery.

Lawyer Emmanuele Ludot said her client had a double fracture of the thigh bone. She had been left more than 10 per cent disabled and had undergone an extended stay in hospital, physiotherapy and much pain because of the incident.

She added that Carrefour had refused any compensation in the period immediately after the accident.

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